


The Marked Ones

by RdmFavCpls



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Story Series | Digimon World Series, 死印 | Shiin | Death Mark (Visual Novel)
Genre: Can't remember them all, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, I love Shiin and Cyber Sleuth, More characters to come, Spoilers for Shiin, trying to do a visual novel style
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 03:16:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17931785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RdmFavCpls/pseuds/RdmFavCpls
Summary: Ami finds out the secret that Arata has kept from them on the same day that she gathers her courage to let him know how strong her feelings for him are. Arata tries to clean up the mess, but when Ami vanishes without a trace, he sets off to find her. The big question is when did he get this mark to appear on his arm?





	1. The Birth of the Mark

Title: Marked Ones

Category: Digimon/Death Mark/Shiin

Rating: M

Pairing: Ami/Arata

Summary: Ami finds out the secret that Arata has kept from them on the same day that she gathers her courage to let him know how strong her feelings for him are. Arata tries to clean up the mess, but when Ami vanishes without a trace, he sets off to find her. The big question is when did he get this mark to appear on his arm?

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Digimon or to Shiin/Death Mark. 

Author’s Note: Death Mark is such a good visual novel horror game. I am obsessed with it so why not take one of my very top OTP and combine it with this game.

~~Story Begins~~

Chapter 1 - The Birth of the Mark

She was too late.

Ami was too late. He already had someone in his heart and future. Someone who he wanted to spend the rest of his days with. She was too late and it wasn’t because she waited too long. It wasn’t because of her trying to find the right moment.

On the exact same day Ami got released from the hospital after being restored back to her body, she flirted with him. She used so much subtext, but he noticed none of it. So, she took desperate measures and went to Nokia for advice.

Nokia was the last person to ever ask advice for on any problem. He was too dense to notice any of her flirtings. Ami had studied all of her mother’s romantic movies and he still didn’t notice all the cliche lines she had used with him. Nokia’s advice was to tell him bluntly about her feelings. If he hadn’t caught on now over Ami’s feelings than he will never catch on unless she tells him in Kyoko’s straightforward nature.

Ami never knew Arata was this cruel. 

~~DigiMark~~

Arata was furious, not at Ami, but at himself and the female that was hanging off of his arm. He just knows Ami was finally going to tell him something important and he hopes that whatever it was, it would explain her current odd behavior that she shows only around him.

He had hoped that they’ll be friends for the rest of their lives (and he wouldn’t complain if they would be more than just friends in the future) and that they’ll keep making memories together. He doesn’t understand as to why she kept asking if he wanted to make a different set of memories with her when he already has. A select few of the people in Tokyo knew about Digimon.

“Aratakins,” the female said. “What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

“What do you think?” Arata said as he glared at the female.

He’ll explain everything to Ami later, but he needs to deal with this female now. 

“Listen to me and you had better listen closely because this is the last time I will explain this to you before I get the police involved,” Arata said. The words came out through gritted teeth as he freed his arm from her grasp.

“Why are you using that serious tone with me, Aratakins?” she said.

“Stop calling me Aratakins, you have never been allowed to call me Arata. We are no longer engaged. Once my mother passed away, my father called off on our arranged marriage.”

“But, but, we’ve been engaged since we were born,” she said. “We love each other.”

“The engagement is off and you want to know why? My father never liked the idea of an arranged marriage. Also, I provided enough proof to my father and mother before she passed away that you and your family were trying to get our money. I showed them with pictures of your boyfriend and you along with the phone conversations the two of you shared. You broke the agreement,” Arata said.

He took a couple of steps in the direction that Ami went in. “Come near me again and I’ll have you arrested for stalking and harassment,” he said.

~~DigiMark~~

“You’re engaged and you are just now telling us this?” Yuuko said. “Was we even going to get the wedding invitations?”

“WAS engaged,” Arata said. “My father broke it off once he had enough proof that she violated the terms of engagement.”

“You are incredibly lucky that you called because I really want to punch you over this holographic screen,” Nokia said.

The anger that is rolling off her personality isn’t being blocked by the holographic screen and Arata has his back pressed against the door just to make sure Nokia can’t come crashing in and giving him a beating.

“This informations happens to be announced after your ex-betrothed tells Ami that you are engaged to her. Moments before Ami had planned to tell you that she loves you?” Yuugo said.

“Are you thinking that Ami’s plan was sabotaged?” Yuuko said.

“Good chance or Ami’s good luck has finally run out,” Yuuko said.

“Wait! Ami has feelings for me?” Arata said. 

It was evident to the three in the phone call that his voice and his face showed that he was truly surprised. 

Nokia was the first one to break the stunned silence with a simple sigh. “You know, you really are a geek if you couldn’t tell Ami did have feelings for you,” Nokia said.

“I accept the fact that I have pretty much zero people skills,” Yuuko said with a nod of her head. “However, I knew Ami was flirting with you. It was quite obvious that she did her homework.”

“I hate to say this, but Ami has been flirting with you for months,” Yuugo said. “I mean, she did use a bunch of cheesy lines and cliche moments that are repeated throughout a bunch of romantic movies. Now she possibly thinks it is only one-sided when you do return her feelings.

“We are off topic,” Arata said and ignored the need to question his best friend over how he knew for a fact that he did have a crush on her. He knows for a fact he never told anyone about it. “The whole entire point of this call is to ask if any of you know where Ami is?”

“Try her apartment,” Nokia said. “Personally, if I were to be in her shows right now-”

“Shoes,” Yuugo said.

“Shoes, whatever,” Nokia said with a roll of her eyes. “I would be in my bedroom brawling my eyes out and cussing you out like nobody’s biz.”

“That’s the problem,” Arata said. 

“Whatever names she is calling you right now isn’t good enough for you handled her heart,” Yuuko said. “You know how incredibly soft-hearted she is.”

“It’s not that,” Arata said.

“Homemade food usually calms Yuuko down,” Yuugo said. “I would be happy to give you some lessons since Ami has given me some.”

Arata shook his head. “Listen. I’m inside her apartment already and -” he said.

“I know I wouldn’t let you inside my apartment after that announcement,” Yuuko said with crossed arms.

“Listen! Her apartment door was unlocked and her digivice is on her couch. There is no sign of forced entry and no sign of her. It seems like she just vanished without a trace,” Arata said.

The atmosphere for the call suddenly turned from anger to panic.

~~DigiMark~~

Ami’s eyes were glazed over as she stared into a dark abyss that she had no idea how deep it went. All that her mind was telling her was that the pit is welcoming her and wants it to be her new home.

The dark abyss will keep her protected so she’ll never hurt or feel betrayed again.

Ami’s foot stepped closer to the edge where half of her show was over the edge. There was a familiar female voice so filled with emotion inside of her mind. The voice was so warm, gentle, comforting, and inviting.

“Good girl…,” the voice said as Ami grabbed the bar of the well’s pulley system. “Don’t worry...I’m here...No need...to worry...Protect you…”

Ami blinked and her blue eyes came into focus.

She saw the dark abyss that looked inviting moments ago, but now it was terrifying. She gasped and removed her hands from the bar as she stepped away from the well. She misjudged the distance and took a step back that caused her to slip off of the well’s edge.

She yelped as she fell and landed hard on her bum, the blades of cool grass with early morning dew was absorbed by her grey skirt. She crawled away from the well backward, her eyes never left the well as it felt like it was moving towards her. Her back hit the bark of a tree, the old bark brushing onto her yellow shirt that represented AWA Studios with its logo.

Her breathes were heavy as she tried to focus and calm down so she could take in her surroundings with a calm mind. The night sky made the overbearing trees look creepier than they would in the day. Branches were pointing at the well and some looked like hands that were ready to grab her if she gets too close. 

The trees circled around the old well. The bar that she had held was rotten and ready to break the moment it had any type of weight hanging onto it. The rope that should’ve been around it was gone. The bucket next to the well had a small amount of the rope attached to the handle, the threads seemed to be chewed off and are the reason why it was no longer attached to the well. The bucket didn’t have its bottom and it seemed like it had rotten out a long time ago. The stones of the well were faded and old, some of the stones had fallen out of their place.

“Where am I?” Ami asked herself as she finally calmed down. She reached towards her red hair that rests on her shoulders in surprise. Her digivice kept her hair in a small pony...so if her hair was on her shoulder than that mean. “Where’s my digivice?”

She grabbed her chest where her heart was at symbolically. It was fine a minute ago, but now it felt like someone had taken a bite out of her skin and that her flesh was being lit on fire.


	2. It's Not Over Yet

Title: Marked Ones

Category: Digimon/Death Mark/Shiin

Rating: M

Pairing: Ami/Arata

Summary: Ami finds out the secret that Arata has kept from them on the same day that she gathers her courage to let him know how strong her feelings for him are. Arata tries to clean up the mess, but when Ami vanishes without a trace, he sets off to find her. The big question is when did he get this mark to appear on his arm?

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Digimon or to Shiin/Death Mark. 

Author’s Note: Death Mark is such a good visual novel horror game. I am obsessed with it so why not take one of my very top OTP and combine it with this game. Also, I know the games are in two different time frames but there will be an explanation in later chapters over why that reason is.

~~Story Begins~~

Chapter 2 - It’s Not Over

Yashiki sighed into his coffee cup, the steam moved with the air from the disappointed sigh. He moved his other hand to take off his frameless rectangular glasses which left the world blurry to his brown eyes. He sat the glasses down on top of a book that laid opened on the table. 

“Another dead end,” Yashiki said to the empty room. “Why do I have a feeling that I’m overlooking something? Something that is important?”

Knock, Knock

Knocks on the front door broke the silence that reigns in the house. Yashiki stood up and placed his glasses back on his face. He ran his fingers through his black wavy hair as he made his way to the door. 

When he entered the entranceway that served as a grand hallway, the tick-tock of the antique clock was dimmed by the constant knocking. He placed a hand on the brown wooden railing and made his way down the stairs. He passed by two red sofas and he took a glance at one of them. The sense of loneliness and an ache in his heart grew.

However, he never did feel a sense of urgency or desperation.

“Mister,” a young girl’s voice said from outside the front door. “Are you home?”

Suzu, Yashiki thought and a smile grew on his lips.

He opened the front door and saw a young female with long black hair and mature brown eyes. She wore a white hoodie jacket over her middle-school outfit. She wasn’t alone nor was her companion the one who he thought it would be.

“Who's your friend?” Yashiki said. Something about the female was making Yashiki body tremble like she was about to start a new chapter on his life. One that he thought was over.

“Mister, that’s not very nice,” Suzu said. “May we come in?”

“Oh, yes. Sorry about that,” Yashiki said. Suzu walked in but the female stayed outside. “Are you going to stand here all day?”

“No,” the female said with a shake of her head. She bowed to Yashiki. “I’m sorry if my presence disturbs you. Suzu said you would be able to help me but, I don’t want to interrupt your plans.”

“If Suzu brought you here then I’ll consider you a friend,” Yashiki said. “So, please come in.”

“Thank you,” the female said again with a bow.

~~DigiMark~~

Arata knew something was off. He just knew it and Kyoko seemed to be convinced that everything was okay. So didn’t the others, but he could understand the reason why they are denying what is in front of them.

All of them were still healing from their loss of Digimon except for Yuugo who shared Arata’s belief that something was wrong. Nokia is hiding from the truth because she doesn’t want to believe that Ami is gone again. Nokia was closest to Ami and she had such a strong bond with Omnimon, Arata was sure that if Nokia saw their fears in reality with her own eyes, she wouldn’t be Nokia anymore. Just a Nokia shell.

Yuugo confessed to Arata about Yuuko’s fears. Yuuko did regain her brother and her father at the cost of Gaimon. Ami still had a somewhat cyber-like body, but she did return to her physical body, but with Ami missing now. Yuuko feels like she is being punished since everything mostly worked in her favor. 

Yuuko has been helping Yuugo with his physical activity otherwise she would help Arata investigate because they made a promise to come back together. Yuuko also still feels indebted to Ami and she hates feeling indebted even to a friend. The catch is if Ami was involved in something sketchy, her bodyguards wouldn’t let her get closer to the truth. 

Yuugo, being Yuuko’s older brother, was in the same predicament as Yuuko. He was also weaker since he was in a coma for eight years. This left everything to fall onto Arata’s shoulders.

Why was Kyoko so convinced that Ami is fine and this was normal for her? This was not like Ami and Arata knew it. Kyoko should know it too but she seems to ignore the gut-wrenching feeling that something is wrong.

“Listen,” Kyoko said after Arata’s outburst. “Her father asked me if I knew where she was at. Apparently, they were supposed to meet for lunch the other day. I told him that I haven’t seen her for a couple of days. She’s been a runaway before and he assured me that she just ran away again. Even if she didn’t, the police wouldn’t be much help. She’s 18 and if she’s been a runaway before, they won’t look too deep into it. They are still more focused on the underground criminal ring they found a month ago so only a small fraction of the force is being focused on missing cases.”

“Her father?” Arata said.

“Yes. He seemed to be very close with Ami and told me that there was nothing to be concerned about,” Kyoko said.

Arata nodded. “I see. I’m sorry for taking your time,” he said calmly. He was seething on the inside and he walks out of Kuremi Detective Agency to calm down. He needed a clear mind to think and just being in the same room with Kyoko seemed to put him on edge.

Arata knew that Ami wasn’t close to her parents. Her father wasn’t in her life and her mother couldn’t stay in Japan for some reason. Her mother abandoned her in Japan.

“Whoever that man pretending to be Ami’s father is behind her sudden disappearance,” Arata said. He leaned his head back against Kyoko’s office door. “If only I knew where to search for clues.”

“This sucks!” a female voice said which caused Arata ’s eyes to focus on the group that was in front of Mirel’s old office. “Is it really too much to ask to see the grim reaper before my time?”

“Calm down, Mei,” another female said that didn’t seem to fit into the group with her cat maid outfit. “Maybe Hanayome was with another person?”

“But...but...I need to know where an actual haunting is at,” the first girl said.

“There’s still one more telephone booth for us to try,” the only guy said. “We’ve tried the telephone booth in H City by the woods and by the park. We just need to try the telephone booth in H City by the apartments.”

“Excuse me,” Arata said getting their attention. “Who is this Hanayome person?”

~~DigiMark~~

“Have a good night, Suzu,” the newcomer said as Suzu left.

Yashiki closed the door and looked at the female. Her red hair that covered her shoulders wasn’t something Yashiki saw every day and her blue eyes were bright and full of life, but hidden in their depths was fear. Something that Yashiki was used to seeing in his companions. 

The brightness of her blue eyes was welcomed after all the horrors he’s faced. Her yellow shirt was a splash of color among the mansion and the grey shoulders did little to protect the young girl from the cold air that drifted inside the mansion. Her grey skirt left some part of her legs bare and almost knee-high yellow socks with grass stains protected her feet from the cold hardwood floor.

“Suzu was determined for you to stay,” Yashiki said.

“I’m sorry if that ruins your plans,” she said. “Oh. My name is Aiba Ami.”

“Will it be okay for me to call you Ami?”

“Yes. I’d prefer it that way,” Ami said with a smile before it vanished. “Suzu said that you’ll be able to help remove the mark before time is up.”

Dread erupted inside of Yashiki’s throat. It couldn’t be. He swallowed and his suddenly dry mouth didn’t wash the dread down. Something deep inside of him knew that this spiritual war wasn’t over. Mary’s powers were growing and he hasn’t been able to her to rest like he has with the other Mark Givers.

“Can I see it?” he asked.

She nodded.

“You’ll also need to explain all that you remember around the time you got your mark,” Yashiki said.

“I understand,” Ami said. “I do need to take my shirt off to show it to you.”

“That’s fine, just make sure to cover up,” Yashiki said. He closed his eyes and turned around to give her some privacy. He did not need to give one of his common visitors any reason to arrest him for something indecent.

How was she able to get the mark? Mary is sealed off for a few decades. I checked the seal this morning as usual. Is there another power out there? A power connected to Mary’s, perhaps? I could just - no. Suzu brought her here. I can’t let her down.

“Mr. Yashiki,” Ami said from behind him. “You can turn around. I’m wearing another shirt underneath.”

He turned around and his eyes focused on the familiar mark. It was on her chest where the heart is at. It was a dull red which he hoped was a good sign that the spirit wasn’t hinted at her location. Her yellow tank top met the bottom of the curved spiritual bite mark.

“Do you remember anything prior to your discovery of that?” Yashiki said as he looked at her.

“I do, but I wish I didn’t,” Ami said with a fake laugh. She put her yellow shirt back on. 

Yashiki watched as she went over and sat on one of the steps. He followed her example and sat next to her.

“There is this man that I love,” she said. “I was in a coma for a few months because the world isn’t what it seems. Somehow, I was still able to communicate with my friends and that’s when I realized I had feelings for him. I was able to wake up from the coma and a week later I was released from the hospital. That exact same day I started to flirt with him.”

Yashiki blinked. 

Does this girl have spiritual power? What does she mean by the world isn’t want it seems? Has she had some experience with the supernatural and spiritual world before?

“I never knew someone could be so dense,” Ami said with a small, dry chuckle. “Maybe he wasn’t and that’s why he told me that way.”

“What way?”

“Well, after months of ignored flirting, one of my friends told me that I have to be blunt with him over my feelings so I asked him to meet up with me. Nothing unusual as I have hung out with him before. Just the two of us.” She pushed her tears back as she finally faced reality. “We meet up and before I could muster the strength to tell him, his fiancé introduces herself to me.”

Ami wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. Yashiki watched as her body trembled a little. It wasn’t because of the cold air that lingered in the mansion or was it from the fear of possible death that was in her future. It was from her heartbreak and it was sinking in that she was already too late.

“I could have brushed it off,” she said. “I could have congratulated them and apologized for ruining their outing. I could have been such a better friend to him in multiple ways.”

“How did you react?”

“I looked him in the eye, even with my vision being blurry from holding back my tears, and asked him on how he could be this cruel. Before he could respond, I turned around and ran away,” she said and rubbed her eyes. “That was in Tokyo.”

“Tokyo? How did you end up here?”

“I don’t know. I know that they still aren’t available all over, but my hair is always in a small side pony by my digivice just to keep my hair out of my eyes. It ’s not anymore. I also have a grey backpack on my back and I don’t know where that is either. I woke up from this trance or whatever you would call it. I had my hands on a rotten wood bar while standing on the edge of a well about to jump in.”

“How did you end up waking up?”

“There was a voice inside my head,” Ami said. “It sounded like one of my friends beckoning me into the well. They were saying encouraging things. Things I always dreamt of being told, but the voice didn’t match with the personality. My friend is a chicken. She’s one of those that after a night of ghost stories she’ll believe her own shadow is alive. The voice in my head told me that they’ll protect me.”

Ami let out a laugh. 

“You find this funny,” Yashiki said.

“Nokia...her voice was the one inside of my head. She’ll try to act tough,” Ami said with a kind smile. “She’ll even try to talk tough, but when it comes to being tough, she’ll have someone else fight the battle or fight alongside. It was never by herself. I’m usually the one protecting her.”

Ami looked forward and rested her head on her knees. “If you are curious, I’m not afraid of dying,” she said. “I’m afraid of not seeing him one more time to apologize for my actions and to wish him congratulations.”

~~DigiMark~~

Arata glared at the telephone booth like it was the reason for Ami’s disappearance. 

“I can’t believe this,” Arata said as he walked towards the telephone booth. “I have this feeling that I need to find her because she’s in danger. However, I didn’t think I would resort to the occult.”

He stepped into the telephone booth and shut the door. He took in the small phone booth with the green phone and an old faded poster from the police about a case that happened five years ago.

“So, I’m supposed to stay in here and the phone should ring,” Arata said. “I know digivices are still new so cell phones are still in, but does anybody even use these anymore?”

The phone started to ring. Arata looked around and saw no one was around that could prank call him. One of the reasons why he chose the telephone booth by the forest in H City.

He picked up the phone and held it up to his ear. “Hello?”

Lips smacking greeted his ear. It was disgusting and reminded Arata of a rabid dog gnawing on a bone that still had a decent amount of meat on it.

“Did...you...see...it?” a female said in between the smacking with painful breaths.

“No,” Arata said.

“What...would...you...like…to...see...again?” the voice said.

“A friend.”

Arata waited as the smacking lips continued. He shivered as the stagnant air got colder.

“Ami...Aiba? Friend?” the voice said.

“Yes.”

Arata turned around as he heard someone tapping at the door. His eyes grew wide and pressed himself against the phone as two pale hands with blood on the palms slammed against the door’s window. A veil of yellow covered the attacker’s face, but there was something wrong with its neck. A yellowed wedding dress was too far down on her body to match with a yellowed fabric of the veil that grazed against the shoulders.

“Seek out the office of a private investigator,” the voice on the phone said. Arata didn’t know when the smacking sound stopped. “Find Mashita. He’ll guide you to your friend and to someone who’ll help get rid of your Mark.”

The person on the phone hung up and the surprise guest vanished into thin air.

Arata put the phone down and let out a shaky breath. “It’ll take a lot more than that to believe in the spiritual world.” He rolled his sleeve up and on the underside of his wrist, a dull red mark was seen that looked like an animal bite. “How did she even know about this?”


End file.
